


The Birthday Present

by AnnieAmi



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Dr. Scully, F/M, Post-Movie: The X-Files: I Want To Believe (2008), The Unremarkable House (X-Files)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:40:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23413969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieAmi/pseuds/AnnieAmi
Summary: It's Mulder's birthday, but Scully gets a present.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	The Birthday Present

**Author's Note:**

> Un-beta'd, so please be kind.

October 13, 2012

Scully had taken Mulder to the David A. Brown Planetarium for the day. It was a low-key birthday present that didn’t require him to socialize and gave them an excuse to leave their intimate surroundings. The excursion was a 35 minute drive from their house, a distance that felt comfortable to Mulder. He was close enough to familiar landmarks that this visit wouldn’t cause much anxiety.

They had walked around in the faintly lit exhibits, hand-in-hand like a couple of shy teenagers. His discomfort was slight but then he’d started lecturing about the insurmountable stars, the newly discovered dwarf planets of the Kuiper Belt, the Oort Cloud, and Scully lamented his never becoming a professor with that fantastic mind of his.

“Next time I’ll take you to the International Spy Museum,” Scully says seriously, hand gripping the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road. 

“There’s a spy museum?” Mulder asks, incredulous.

“Yes. Maybe you could learn a thing or two, G-man,” the corners of her mouth fighting a smile. 

“I could learn something? Like what?” he squints, challenging her. 

“How not to ditch your partner, how to wait for backup. Don’t jump onto moving trains. How to wait for me to help you do some of the heavy lifting around the house. General logic that might save your butt.”

“I have you for that.”

Unable to contain it any longer, Scully gives in and flashes him a smile to light up the night. “How very true Mulder.”

“My ass would have been toast without you all these years,” he reaches over to interlace his fingers with hers as the car pulls up to their house. 

“You’re right about that,” Scully jokes, stopping the car. She turns to find him watching her intently. It reminds her of the intense scrutiny of his stares when they first started working together. He’d test her science, try to rattle her, push her to the limits of patience and logic, until they learned to rely on each other’s strengths. She feels flustered under his gaze, unused to the attention now, yet appreciates that he is enjoying his birthday. Enjoying their time together. She doesn’t break eye contact. 

“How’s your shoulder feeling?”

Mulder nods as his thumb strokes her hand. “Better. Thanks, doc. But my neck still hurts when I turn my head too far to the left,” he demonstrates.

“I’ll massage it for you tonight,” Scully replies huskily.

“Ooh, a birthday massage. I can get behind that kind of doctoring.”

Then Mulder lets go of her hand and springs from the car, as if he’s suddenly remembered something very important. He quickly makes his way to the driver’s side and opens the door for Scully. Head bent in a chivalrous gesture, he pulls her to her feet, grimacing at the flash of pain in his neck.

“Oh, Mulder, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay. I’ll live,” Mulder wraps an arm around her waist as they slowly make their way up the porch steps. Scully opens the door and his hand, easily at home on the small of her back, guides her inside. On the coffee table she sees a small package she hadn’t noticed when they left that morning and eyes him curiously.

“Mulder, you have a package.”

‘Actually, it’s a little surprise for you,” Mulder says, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. This is the most animated she’s seen him in weeks. 

“But it’s not my birthday, Mulder,” Scully gently chides. 

“True, but I think of this as a gift we can both use,” he says.

Scully pauses, eyeing him, her curiosity piqued.

“You even wrapped this. When did you have time to do this?” She is touched at the small gesture.

“Well, I’ve been out of commission,” Mulder gestures to his shoulder, “and Amazon can be strangely addictive when you can’t write for long periods of time or fix things around the house.” 

The box is small and neatly wrapped. Scully picks it up, weighs it in her hands, shakes it gently, her investigative mind trying to put the puzzle together. 

“Open it,” urges Mulder, beaming down at her, his excitement contagious. They sit on the couch as Scully carefully tears at a corner of the paper. 

“Come on, Scully.”

October 9, 2012

“The stars twinkle beautifully this far from the city,” Scully thought as she drove up the long road to the house, gravel crunching under tires. Parking the car she took a deep breath, expelling the stress of the day from her mind and body, and prepared for which Mulder might await her tonight. Would he be buried in his office, deep in conspiracies and retreating into the dark recesses of his mind? It was a place she couldn’t reach him, a place she couldn’t follow. Those were the nights he would absently kiss her, lips on her, but mind elsewhere. He wouldn’t see her, wouldn’t even look at her. He’d barely breathe a word before going back to his work. Or would he engage with her, cook and eat dinner, talk and watch TV with her? Maybe they’d even have sex.

She glanced up at the dark sky. A shooting star zoomed across the windshield, but Scully didn’t dare indulge herself in a wish. She was stalling. 

“Only one way to find out,” she muttered and opened the car door. 

The first chill of autumn was biting and Scully thought of Mulder’s birthday just four days away. She planned to take him to the planetarium and didn’t know if he’d be delighted or anxious, but she felt that if they could get through a day out of the house, it would be a step in the right direction for them. Maybe they’d even go out to dinner. 

Scully realized that she had reached the front door. She steeled herself and opened the door to their home. 

“Hello?” she called.

“Hey, over here,” Mulder said weakly, but she didn’t see him. 

“Mulder, where are you?” 

A hand rose slowly from the couch. “Here. I’m here,” said Mulder. 

Scully’s head shot in the direction of the hand and she made her way across the room and gingerly sat next to Mulder. “What happened?” she asked. 

“I was doing very manly work outside, fixing the wooden boards on the side of the house and…” he closed his eyes, “I hurt my shoulder. And back. And neck. I know you said to wait for you. That we’d do it together one weekend, but it was warm this afternoon and I was feeling mainly.”

“You mentioned that. Oh, Mulder. And you sat there in pain all day?” 

“Not all day. I took some ibuprofen and it helped a little, but I’m stiff.” Mulder wagged his eyebrows.

“Only you would make a sex joke at a time like this.”

Mulder shook his head. “No man would be able to let that one go.”

Back on her feet, Scully made her way around the house, searching for specific items to help Mulder. Bottles rattled, the microwave beeped, and Scully came back with pills and a heating pad. “When did you last take ibuprofen?”

After several seconds Mulder said, “About two?” 

“Ok, put on this heating pad and take these when we go upstairs.”

“Ay, ay, doc.”

“I’ll go make dinner.”

“Am I getting the royal treatment because it’s my birthday week?”

“Your birthday is coming up?” Scully joked as she rummaged through the refrigerator. 

“I’ll be officially in my 50s.” 

“You are in your 50s.” 

“No, right now I’m just 50. But in four days, I’ll be well into my 50s, Scully. You’re with an old man. You’re better off finding someone younger, sexier, someone who can fix a house without hurting himself,” Mulder sounded disgusted. 

Scully couldn’t tell if he was serious, but his voice was tinged with darkness and loathing. This wasn’t an avenue of conversation she was willing to pursue tonight, so she stopped preparing dinner and walked to the couch. Mulder wouldn’t meet her eyes and she wasn’t entirely sure it was because he didn’t have full use of his neck. He stared at the ceiling as she loomed over him waiting for a response. Kneeling down, she lightly placed her fingers on Mulder’s face and tilted it towards her. His eyes sought escape from her fierce eyes, but he didn’t fight her gentle hold on him and she stared at him for a long moment, incensed and fully in love. “I am right where I want to be. Today and every day,” she said with conviction, then she leaned into his lips hard. Her tongue pressed into his mouth and he let her in, kissing her back with all the strength he had. “Did I make myself clear?” her voice hoarse, eyes hungry. 

“Yeah,” Mulder whispered, their faces still close. One hand reached up and urged her head back down, closing the distance between their mouths, while the fingers of his other hand encircled the small wrist near his face. Lips crushed, tongues tasted, breathes quickened and intermingled.

Suddenly, “Oh!” Mulder exclaimed and winced.

“Sorry! Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. You feel great, but everything just… hurts. 

“I’ll finish dinner. You let the heating pad do the work.”

Mulder complied as Scully reheated Chinese takeout from the previous night. They ate in front of the TV, Mulder reclined on the couch while Scully, seated on the floor in front of him, helped him eat. 

After dinner was over, Scully cleared the livingroom of cartons and plates and helped Mulder up the stairs. Their room was dark with only the moon shining into their bedroom window. Neither bothered turning on the light as Mulder settled in the bed.

“Here,” Scully placed the pills and a glass of water on Mulder’s nightstand. He obediently swallowed them.

“Let’s get you out of that shirt. Sit up.” Mulder did as told with Scully’s help. In the darkened room she attempted to bring his shirt over his head, but the sharp intake of breath through his teeth stopped her. 

“Can’t you just cut it off?

“It’s not that dire, Mulder,” and he could practically hear her roll her eyes. 

Scully tried once again, more carefully, slowly to get his shirt off, one sleeve and then the other, and finally over his mussed hair. With a gentle hand, she traced the outline of his torso in the moonlit room. Her hand came to rest on his abdomen, still tanned from summer work outside.

“Can you lie on your stomach?” she asked.

“I think so.” Mulder managed to manipulate his body so that he was lying face down on the bed without much pain while Scully prepared herself for bed. Once he was comfortable, Scully straddled his legs, squirted some lotion into her hand, and began to massage his back. She leaned into her palms, flat on his scapula then paid close attention to his neck, kneading the tense muscles, rubbing her hands on his dark skin. Slowly, she pushed up in the tight curve of his sculpted shoulders and then down his spine. 

Mulder’s muscles began to relax and he moaned, “You’re really good at this.”

“I like doing it,” her voice thick with meaning. 

“Maybe I’ll get injured more often, then.”

“Please don’t,” she whispered. 

Scully continued to work his neck and back for several minutes, relishing the way his body looked under her and Mulder let her know, quite loudly, how much he was enjoying himself. 

“I need to turn around,” he said after some time.

Scully dismounted and helped him onto his back. She placed a pillow under his head and he leaned back, closing his eyes, breathing heavily. It was evident that his neck was not the only reason he was uncomfortable. 

“Oh,” she said, looking down. 

“Quite the predicament tonight,” Mulder said, gesturing to his erection. 

“Do you think you can?” she said, brows raised.

“I’m not sure. I might be stiff… but so is my neck. Not sure how much I can uh participate.”

“That’s okay. Why don’t you let me help you relieve some of that build up?” she offered. 

“Believe it or not, I might be in too much pain even for that.”

“Wow, this must be serious,” Scully joked.

“Could be fatal if I turn down sex, doc.”

Scully reached up and kissed him on the cheek, then rested her head on the pillow next to him. “Good night. Hopefully you’ll feel better in the morning.” They drifted off to sleep together, nestled against one another. 

October 13, 2012

“Come on, Scully! Open it already,” Mulder can’t contain his excitement. 

“Okay,” Scully smiles and gives up tearing the wrapping neatly. It comes off in two long strips and she looks down at her present. She is left holding a box decorated with purple petals. It reads “Je Joue.” The packaging gives nothing away. Uncertain of what it could be, Scully eyes Mulder questioningly. He shrugs, a big smile on his face. He’s not going to ruin the surprise, but he’s delighted with himself. 

“What do you have up your sleeve?”

“Only one way to find out. Open the box,” Mulder says eagerly.. 

Scully slides the lid off the box. Inside is a pink egg-shaped device and, though Scully isn’t completely sure, she has a pretty good idea of what this is.

“A vibrator?”

Mulder shakes his head. “No, not a vibrator. A clitoral stimulator, Scully,” he corrects. “Very specific and very fancy. State of the art and velvety soft.”

“But why?”

“I’ve been out of commision, so to speak, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t enjoy yourself,” Mulder explains.

“I thought this was going to be something we can both use together,” Scully reminds him.

“Oh, it is. It most certainly is.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure. I can use it on you. I can watch you use it. Maybe you can try it on me. 

Scully’s eyebrow shoot up. 

‘There are so many ways we can enjoy this together,” Mulder continues.

“How very open-minded of you.” Scully smiles and stares into the depths of his eyes. He is beaming down at her. She sees a light that hasn’t been there for a long time. He is exuberant. And he sees her too. Sees that she has needed him. He is aware that he can get lost in the maze of conspiracies and armagedom, but these last few days he hasn’t been able to sit in one position for long, so he alternates between short bouts of writing, long strolls around the property, and lying on the couch. He’s had a lot of time to think and he misses Scully - her company and her body. During these times of clarity, he sees the cracks in their relationship. He wants to mend them, so he’s starting with a gift. 

Scully rises from the couch, stimulator in hand, and heads to her computer. Mulder follows and wraps his arms around her waist as she plugs in the stimulator to charge it. He kisses her neck before she turns in his embrace. “Thank you for the planetarium and dinner,” Mulder says earnestly. In response, Scully rises on her toes and kisses him. “When can we use this?” Mulder gestures to the charging sex toy.

“Not for a few hours.”

Mulder groans with impatience against her lips.


End file.
